1Department
of Acupuncture-Moxibustion and Tuina, Beijing University of Chinese
Medicine,Beijing 102488,China.2The Sixth Medical Center
of the General Hospital of the People's Liberation Army of Chinese,
Beijing 100048, China.3Experimental Animal Center,
Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, Beijing 102488, China.4Traditional
Chinese medicine department. Beijing ShangDi Hospital, Beijing
100084, China. #These authors contributed equally to this work as
co-first authors.
Insufficient cerebral blood flow plays a pivotal role in neuropathology in
humans and animals, producing Alzheimer’s disease (AD) like symptoms. Blood
brain barrier (BBB) dysfunction may be one of the potential causes of
insufficient cerebral blood supply, leading to these problems.
Electroacupuncture (EA) can show promise in improving cognitive abilities and
CNS functions. However, its effects on cerebral blood flow and the blood-brain
barrier are not yet clear. SAMP8 mice were randomly assigned to three
experimental groups: the Alzheimer's disease model (AD), electro-acupuncture
intervention (EA), and donepezil treatment (D) groups. SAMP8 mice received EA at
GV20/GV29 (2 mA,
100/2
Hz) in the EA group or donepezil (1mg/kg) in the D group for 21 days.SAMR1 mice
serve as optimal controls for SAMP8 in AD research due to their genetic
congruence and age-matched normal aging profile, which effectively isolate
AD-specific pathologies by eliminating non-AD-related aging confounders, it
worked as the normal (N) controls. Morri’s water maze observed the behavioral
changes of mice in all groups, the blood flow perfusion in the cortical area of
the cerebrum was observed by the RFLSI ZW laser speckle imaging system, and the
integrity of the basement membrane and tight junctions of the BBB were observed
by transmission electron microscope. Nissl and Hematoxylin and eosin staining
observed the morphological changes of nerve cells in the hippocampal region.
Cytokine and protein expression levels were determined by Enzyme-Linked
Immunosorbent Assay or western blotting.Compared with the N group,
cognitive ability and cerebral blood flow were significantly decreased, the
function and integrity of BBB were disrupted, the neuronal structure was heavily
damaged, and the serum and brain inflammatory responses were increased in mice
of the AD group (P<0.01). All of these pathologies were recovered by the EA
group and D group (P<0.05/P<0.01). Although the positive control drug donepezil
partially ameliorated cognitive deficits, cerebral blood flow (CBF), and
neuropathological damage in SAMP8 mice, EA uniquely restored CBF to control
levels and exhibited stronger anti-inflammatory effects than donepezil. The
results of this study show that EA improves the cognitive ability of mice and
alleviates central neuronal damage. This protective effect might be attributed
to EA's dual mechanisms of enhancing cerebral perfusion and suppressing
inflammatory pathways, mediated through MMp-9 and ICAM-1inhibition, which
collectively restore blood-brain barrier integrity and mitigate barrier damage.
To Cite This Article: Wang Z, Sun R, Yang J, Jiang J, Zhang Y, Wu G, Tao Y, Xu X, Zhao X, Xu A, Sun X, Li Z, 2025.
Electroacupuncture efficacy evaluation
on blood-brain barrier and cerebral blood flow function in samp8 mice.
Pak Vet J, 45(1): 149-161. http://dx.doi.org/10.29261/pakvetj/2025.135